Defensive end Kentwan Balmer was AWOL from the afternoon practice. The former first-round pick has the physical tools to be at least a solid NFL starter if not a star. But he has been an underachiever in the NFL and the Redskins are his third team in the last calendar year. He is fighting to make the team as a backup.

He won’t do that if he’s not at practice. Mike Shanahan sounded more mystified than angry when he told us yesterday that he simply didn’t know where Balmer was.

I don’t want to speculate as to why Balmer wasn’t there but it’s safe to say that there are very few good reasons to miss practice without the coaches knowing about it. We will see how this turns out.

Updated at 12:40 p.m.:

Balmer was not present at the 10:40 a.m. walkthrough. His agent did not return a call requesting comment. Stephen Bowen said that he did not know Balmer's whereabouts, saying "it bugs me out a little bit."